We Drive Chrysler’s 2007 Concepts

Chrysler’s recent crop of concept cars
hasn’t been approved for production — but that didn’t stop the
company from letting the press get their hands on them for a spin.

The
automaker brought an assortment of show cars — a handful from each category —
out on a warm spring afternoon, some just to sit and look pretty, but most for
us to actually slip inside and drive down the tony waterfront in Grosse
Pointe, Mich.The selection covered quite a range, from entry-level roadsters to
high-line sedans, as well as a variety of Jeeps and trucks.

“We try to strike a balance,” explains Joe Dehner,
the new design vice president at Chrysler, between the pure fantasy cars, with
their wild and fanciful shapes, and “the stuff that’s more disciplined, with
show car flair (tempered by) the potential to make it onto the showroom
floor.”

For those who’ve been wondering about the name of
Chrysler’s new owners, Cerberus, it refers to the three-headed guard dog of
Hades, from Dante’s Inferno. We don’t
know if that’s a reference to what the troubled automaker will be facing in the
future, but perhaps it’s appropriate that the star among recent Chrysler show
cars was named Demon.

Introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, last February,
it’s Chrysler’s take on the classic, entry-level roadster. Think Mazda Miata or
Pontiac
Solstice.

Under the skin, the Demon shares roughly the same
chassis as found in the current production model, the Chrysler Crossfire, but
the roadster show car features a smaller, 2.4-liter in-line four engine.

Firing it up, the Demon let out a nice little burble
through an exhaust system unfettered by a catalytic converter. We struggled to
get the manual transmission into gear — a sin forgivable in a prototype which
had to make its borrowed drivetrain fit whichever way possible. In production
form, we’d expect to see a reworked version of the four, which would boast more
than enough power for such a lightweight vehicle. (We’d also hope that Chrysler
would consider at least one up-market drivetrain option, much as
Pontiac as done with the
Solstice, however.)

As with the drivetrain, the borrowed steering package
was a little notchy and not quite ready for prime time, but the overall feel of
this Demon on the loose was perfect for a cool, sunny spring day. While this may
officially be described as a concept car, it has the feel of something getting
ready for production. And perhaps for good reason, according to
Dehner.

While there’s been no formal decision, designers had a clear
mandate. “The idea behind it was to do an entry-level sports car that, if it
were to get approval, could get into production very quickly,” Dehner explained,
pointing to the Crossfire, which went from concept to production in barely 18
months.

If the Demon gets the go, insiders hint that it would
likely share its platform and key components with another entry-level Chrysler
minicar. The most probable? The production version of the Hornet show car. The
U.S. maker is developing that as part
of a joint venture with the Chinese automaker, Chery, and it could reach
showrooms by 2009. We’re hoping like the devil to see a production Demon around
the same time.

Since the introduction of the modern minivan, back in 1984,
Chrysler’s lineup has been dominated by various light trucks. But with gas
prices likely to stick in the $3-a-gallon range, and sales of once-hot models,
like the Ram pickup, faltering, there’s been a push to bring out more
competitive cars — small cars, in particular, Dehner told TheCarConnection.com. “But just because they’re small
doesn’t mean they have to be boring, or cheap.”